Of the consequences of the adventure, which threaten danger, but end in
apparent good fortune.
I carefully fastened the inside of my door as soon as I was left to
myself, and put my candle in so remote a corner of the room, that if
any one was curious to look through the painted glass window, they could
never discover that I was not the mollah bashi.
Having done this, it then struck me that something more might be
elicited from this adventure than I had at first imagined. Let me
inspect the good mans pockets, said I, and the roll of paper in his
girdle; perhaps they may contain the history of my future plans. In his
right-hand pocket were two notes, a rosary, and his seals. In the left
his ink-stand, a small looking-glass, and a comb. His watch was kept in
the breast of his coat, and in another small pocket, nearly under his
arm-pit, was his purse.
The purse first came under inspection, and there I found five tomauns
in gold and two pieces of silver. The watch was gold, and of English
manufacture. His inkstand, beautifully painted, was also valuable,
and contained a penknife, scissors, and pens. All these and the other
trinkets I duly looked upon as my own (for I was determined to play the
whole game), and I replaced them in their proper places on my person.
The notes then came under inspection. One was to this purpose, without a
seal.
O friend! my intimate! my brother! (O, said I, this is from an
equal!) You know the affection that the friend who addresses you
entertains for that bright star of the age, the shadow of our blessed
Prophet, and his only wish is, that their intimacy should daily increase
and strengthen. He sends him six choice Ispahan melons, such as are not
to be found every day, and requests him, as he values his beard, to give
him an unlimited permission to drink wine; for the doctors assure him
if he does not take it in abundance, he will not have long to be the
scourge and extirpator of the enemies of the true faith.
This can only be from the chief executioner, said I immediately.
Who else in Persia could express in such few words his own character,
namely, flatterer, drunkard, and braggart? I will make something of
this; but let me look at the other note. I opened it, and read as
follows:
O my lord and master, The humble inferior who presumes to address the
prop of the true faith, the terror of infidels, and the refuge of the
sinner, begs leave to lay before him, that after having encountered a
thousand difficulties, he has at length succeeded in getting from the
peasantry of his villages one hundred tomauns in ready money, besides
the fifty _kherwars_, or ass loads of grain: that the man, Hossein Ali,
could or would not pay anything, although he had bastinadoed him twice,
and he had in consequence taken possession of his two cows: that he
would go on beating and exerting himself to the best of his abilities;
and if some one was sent for the money which he had now in hand, he
would deliver it over upon receiving a proper order.
The note then finished with the usual form of words from an inferior to
his master, and was sealed with a small seal, upon which was impressed
Abdul Kerim, the name of the writer.
Ah, said I, may my lucky stars still protect me, and I will discover
who this Abdul Kerim is, and where the village from whence he writes,
and then the hundred tomauns become mine. However, I let that matter
rest for the moment, to think of the good account to which I might turn
the note from the chief executioner. After due reflection I wrote as
follows:--
O my friend! my soul! The note of that friend without compare has been
received, and its contents understood. When the sacred standard of Islâm
runs the risk of losing that lion of lions, that double-bladed sword,
that tower of strength, when he may be saved and preserved, who can
doubt what is to be done? Drink, O friend, drink wine, and copiously
too; and let the enemies of all true believers tremble. May thy house
prosper, for the melons; but add one more favour to the many already
conferred; lend thy friend a horse, duly caparisoned, for he has
pressing business on hand, and he will return it safe and sound, as soon
as the star of his destiny shall direct him home again.
This I impressed with the seal of the deceased, and determined to
present it myself very early in the morning.
To the other note I wrote the following answer:
To the well-beloved Abdul Kerim. We have received your note, and
have understood its contents. This will be delivered to you by our
confidential Hajji Baba Beg, to whom you will deliver whatever money you
have in hand for us. On other subjects you will hear from us soon; but
in the meanwhile go on with the bastinado, and we pray Allah to take you
into his holy keeping.
Having duly accomplished this, I waited for a proper hour to make my
escape from a place where I was in momentary danger of a discovery,
which perhaps might bring me to an ignominious end. It was past
midnight, and I was preparing to issue in great secrecy from my room,
when the door was gently pressed as if some one wanted admittance. My
fright may better be imagined than described. I expected to see, at
least, the _daroga_ (police magistrate) and all his officers rush in and
seize me; and I waited in agony for the result of the intrusion, when
I heard the sound of a female voice whispering words which my agitation
prevented my understanding. Whatever might have been the object of
the visit, I had but one answer to give, and that was a loud and heavy
snore, which sufficiently proclaimed that the occupant of the apartment
was in no humour to be disturbed.
I waited for some time until I thought that everything was hushed
throughout the mansion, then made my way quietly to the principal
entrance, which having easily opened, I fled as if pursued. I watched
the best opportunities to steal along the streets without meeting the
police, and without being discovered by the sentinels on duty. The day
at length dawned, and the bazaars, little by little, began to open.
Dressed as I was in the mollah bashis clothes, my first care was
to make such alterations in them that they should not hold me up to
suspicion, and this I did for a trifling expense at an old clothes
shop, although, at the same time, I took care not to part with any of
the valuable articles which had fallen into my possession.
I then proceeded to the house of the chief executioner, where I
presented my note to a servant, an utter stranger to me, saying, that
the mollah bashi requested an immediate answer, as he was about going
from the city on important business.
To my delight, I was informed that the great personage was in his
anderûn, and that he must for the present delay sending a written
answer; but that in the meanwhile he had ordered one of his horses to be
delivered to me.
O how I eyed the beast as I saw him led out of the stable, with the
gold-pommelled and velvet-seated saddle, with the gold chain dangling
over his head, and the bridle inlaid with enamelled knobs. I almost
dreaded to think that all this was about to become my property, and that
such luck could not last long. So strong was this apprehension that
I was about asking for trappings less gaudy and more serviceable; but
again, I thought that any delay might be my ruin; so without mincing the
matter I mounted him, and in a very short time had passed the gates of
the city, and was far advanced into the country.
I rode on, without stopping or once looking behind, until I had got
among some of the broken ground produced by the large and undefined bed
of the river Caraj, and there I made a halt. I recollected to have heard
that the village of the mollah bashi lay somewhere in the direction of
Hamadan, and consequently I directed my course thither. But, to say the
truth, when pausing to breathe, I was so alarmed at the extraordinary
turn which my fortunes had taken, that, like one dizzy on the brink of
a precipice, invaded by a sort of impulse to precipitate himself, it
was with some difficulty that I could persuade myself not to return and
deliver up my person to justice. I am, said I, nothing more nor less
than a thief, and, if caught, should duly be blown from the mouth of
a mortar. But then, on the other hand, who made me so? Surely, if
_takdeer_ (destiny) will work such wonderful effects, it can be no fault
of mine. I sought not the death of the mollah bashi; but if he chooses
to come and breathe his last in my lap, and if, whether I will or no,
I am to be taken for him, then it is plain that fate has made me his
vakeel, his representative; and whatever I do so long as I remain in
that character is lawful--then his clothes are my clothes, his hundred
tomauns are my hundred tomauns, and whatever I have written in his name
is lawfully written.
Revived by these conclusions, I again mounted and proceeded to the
nearest village, to inquire where the property of the chief priest was
situated, and if a person of the name of Abdul Kerim was known in the
neighbourhood. As if the dice were determined to keep turning up in my
favour, I found that the very next village, about one parasang distant,
was the one in question, and Abdul Kerim a priest of that name who
superintended the interests and collected the revenues of his deceased
master. Ho, said I, a priest! I must change the tone of the letter
and insert his proper titles. I immediately sat down on the ground,
taking the inkstand from my pocket, and cutting off a slip of paper from
the roll in my girdle I framed my note anew, and then proceeded on my
errand, determined, if I obtained possession of the hundred tomauns, to
take the shortest road to the nearest Persian frontier.
[Illustration: Hajji leaves the village hurriedly after collecting the
money. 33.jpg]